Safe in the Arms of Love
by jessabean
Summary: MargaretHawkeye. PostWar. Hawkeye and Margaret have begun their separate lives after the war, and now she needs help. So she turns to the one who has always been there for her. Rated for language.
1. Just Breathe

Authors Note: I, sadly do not own MASH. Although I wish I did. This story comes from the genuine love I have for the show and its characters.

This is also my first posted Fan Fic. Enjoy!

**Chapter One – Just Breathe**

The ringing of the telephone startled him. He rolled over and looked at the clock resting on the bedside table. The brightness of the numbers burned his sleepy eyes as he read 2:11AM.

"_Who the hell could that be?"_ He wondered. Regardless he got out of bed and headed towards the table on which the telephone was resting. He didn't want to miss a possible emergency from Crabapple Cove Civic Hospital.

"Hello?" Hawkeye Pierce said into the telephone hoarsely. There was no verbal response, just the sound of a woman crying. The sound jerked him awake instantly.

"Hello?" he repeated into the receiver.

"Hawkeye?" The woman sounded distressed and frightened. He recognized the voice, he hadn't heard that voice in two years, and he hadn't heard it in that state for some time before.

"Margaret?" he replied, somewhat in disbelief. His reply caused her to continue deeper into her state of crying. "Margaret, what's wrong? You can tell me, it's okay."

"Oh Hawkeye. I never imagined it could be this bad," more sobbing occurred, "Could you help me fix this huge mistake?"

"Well first off Margaret, you need to tell me what's going on," his voice filled with sympathy and caring for his friend.

His thoughts turned to Korea. He hadn't thought of that dreaded place in a while. He still kept in touch with B.J, but their conversations no longer related to that of meatball surgery. Memories of Margaret rushed through his mind. His plane landed in Seoul, he was on his trip home, that was, until a Sergeant from I-CORPS approached him and informed him of his one-week delay, and that he'd have to go assist with the consolidation of the 8063rd.

When he arrived, he didn't see her, he wondered where she was. For a moment he pushed it out of his mind, set up his bunk, and then proceeded to search for the blonde who had taken over his mind. Upon exiting the lab, the door hit someone.

"_Hey! Watch it buster!" she shouted, then turning to realize who the culprit was. _

They stared at each other, him with joy, and her in disbelief. Suddenly, they both resumed the kiss that they had shared only a matter of hours ago at the 4077th. Both were overjoyed to see one another, and both forgot about the other people present, who were now a captive audience. When they finally parted, they were still unaware of the congregation of people in the Lab/O.R doorway.

"_Hawkeye, what are you doing here? I thought you were going home?"_

"_Trust me, I thought I was too. Apparently the army had a different opinion and decided to stick me here for another week. Besides, how could I refuse to come and visit with my favorite army nurse?" _He looked at her with those cool blue/grey eyes, the look that always sent shivers down her spine. She took a step closer to him and motioned for him to bend his head down.

"_Why don't you grab you bags. You can sleep in my tent. It's a small cot, but I'm sure we can find a way to make it work." _Her eyes sent him a look he had never seen before, never from her, never from any other women. This look, would keep his mind racing all day, thinking about what plans the Major was compiling inside her head.

Margaret's voice brought him out of his daydream.

" Well, to start, about a year ago I resigned my commission and began working in Washington D.C. It was good at first, the nurses took to me very well, and the doctors were excellent. One of them was a little too good to be true. We got serious and moved in together. I caught him cheating a few weeks back, and I kicked him out. Now….. Now…." Her voice began to falter; she was obviously nervous, and scared. She began crying once again.

"Margaret, it's okay. It's Hawkeye. You can tell me what's going on." He wanted to be supportive for his friend but telling by her tone, he knew he'd get angry about the ending of the story. Although there is a ping of jealously already stirring inside of him, he could tell that what he was about to hear, would cause him to drop everything else and go and aid his friend.

After a few moments, Margaret regained the use of her voice. "Hawkeye," she said slowly, "He's making threatening phone calls, he's tried to break into my house."

"Have you called the police Margaret?"

"I can't Hawk."

"Why can't you?"

"Because last time he tried to break in, he broke my arm breaking in the door. I in turn, broke his nose with my frying pan."

"Margaret, where are you?"

"My house, why?"

"What's the address?"

" 1934 Martindale Drive Washington. Why? Hawkeye what are you doing?" She received no answer through the receiver, just the sound of it hitting the wood on the stand in which the telephone rested.

Hey-O! Thank you for reading thus far. I hope you enjoyed it! I hope that reguardless of whether you enjoyed it or not you will review. I will only post the next piece after five reviews. No flames please, constructive critisism accepted.


	2. Her Light in the Dark

**Author's Note:** I do not own MASH. Although a really wish I did. The story and ideas for the story however, are my own. Feel free to recreate the ideas, just don't recreate my work.

Chapter Two.

The lights of the cars in front of him seemed so distant. "_I'm never going to get there",_ he thought. Hawkeye had been driving at a somewhat feverish and dangerous pace. Luckily enough fate was on his side this time and allowed his to reach Washington in record breaking time. All he had to do now was find '1934 Martindale Drive'.

He scanned the road signs quickly, hoping that he would not miss it. As he drove he wondered why anyone would want to do such a thing to Margaret. Margaret wasn't a bad person, a perfectionist yes, which at times could be unbelievably nerve racking, but she was anything but rude, crude or mean. This question had been plaguing his mind ever since he left Crabapple Cove some hours before. He was released from his own mind just in time to see the sign which would lead him to his troubled friend. He quickly turned left down Martindale Drive and quickly found 1934.

Pulling up the drive he noticed that there weren't many lights on inside the house. He got a sickening feeling inside his stomach. _'What if Dr. Amazing has returned?'_ Hawkeye stopped the car and ran to the front door of his former comrades' house. He knocked frantically on the door, and without waiting for an answer, he opened the unlocked door and entered the house.

"Margaret!" He called out, sounding worried, while rushing through the house to try and find her. "Margaret! Where are you?"

"Hawkeye?" She sounded tired, much like she sounded after one of the 72 hour O.R sessions back in Korea.

"Yeah, honey it's me. Where are you?"

"I'm upstairs, second door on your left."

Now a little more relieved than he had been when he first entered the house, he climed all 14 stairs to the second story of the house, and continued to the second door on his left. As he approached the rectangular opening, he realized just what room she was in, the dripping water was a dead giveaway. He turned and entered the bathroom.

What he saw, was something he hoped he would never have to see again, especially on her porcelain body. Her delicate blue eyes were now surrounded by another shade of blue, one with a deep purple tinge to it, and her porcelain body was marked in various places with the same ugly shades of abuse and torture.

She noticed the shock on his face, and her eyes began to water. She grabbed the wash cloth she had with her and continued to rub herself down gently. She looked at him softly, somewhat embarrassed. "This isn't exactly the way I wanted you to see me."

Silence came from the only man who knew exactly how to cheer her up when she was down in the dumps. His satire, mockery, joking, and sarcastic ways seemed to have been thrown into the junk pile because he, her rock during the horrors of war, now had tears in his own eyes.

"The warm water makes them feel better," she said softly, more tears appearing in her eyes. What comforted her at this moment was the fact that for once, he had the perfect opportunity to ogle her and comment on her nakedness, but instead, he looked only at her face.

He was too disgusted to look at the battle scars she had obtained. Battle scars from a battle she had lost, one she had no idea was coming. He reached into the bathtub, taking the facecloth she was holding between her hands. He motioned for her to turn her back to him, and she winced as she obeyed his physical command. Hawkeye winced at the sight of her back, which looked like one giant bruise. Gently he dipped the cloth into the soothing warm water and raised it to Margaret's back. She twitched slightly, but then sunk into a comforting position as the talented surgeon caresses her back lightly with the warm piece of fabric.

Hawkeye stopped when Margaret turned around, slowly, to face him. She reached her arms out to him, hugging him, as a subtle way of saying 'thank you.' No words were spoken as he grabbed a towel off the shelf resting beside the bath tub, opened it and motioned for her to get out of the tub. She stood up, wincing slightly as she could feel the pain and stiffness in her joints and muscles. Hawkeye gently wrapped the towel around her, then carried her to her bedroom which was right across the hall. As he began to put her down on her bed, she spoke.

"Hawkeye…"

"Yes, Margaret," he replied, looking at her softly.

"Thank you… for everything."

It was then, when she was just beginning to think everything was going to be okay, she heard a diesel truck pulling up the drive. Her eyes showed she was scared and frightened. She sat up quickly and grabbed Hawkeye's arm.

"Go lock the door. Now. Come right back up. Don't ask questions, just do it." The voice that he heard was one of the old Margaret. The tough, by-the-book, Major Margaret Houlihan. However, she was a scared Major Margaret Houlihan. The old Margaret would have confronted whomever it was that was coming by herself, but her tough exterior was broken. Hawkeye blamed himself for that. He, along with B.J. and the occasional assistance of Charles had broken that rough outer barrier. Now he regretted doing it.

Hawkeye quickly made his way downstairs and locked the door, then turned to return to Margaret. He was just about to reach the top of the stairs when he heard banging on the door. He stopped dead in his tracks. A sense of fear fell over him. Should he confront the man who has been causing Margaret all this pain, or should he go and comfort the woman who was helpless, lying in her bedroom, practically scared out of her skin. He had to be tough, not only for Margaret but for himself. He began walking back down the stairs and towards the door.

"Hawkeye!" Margaret yelled from the bedroom, "Don't open the door! Come up here!"

He stood still, rethinking what he should do. _'She needs me. She's not strong.' _He wanted to be strong for her, wanted to stand up for her. However, he did not know this man. What if he was a crazed lunatic? What if right now standing outside that door, was a man with a gun or a knife? He stayed stationary in that position battling a war inside his mind. It wasn't until Margaret yelled that he decided to return to her bedroom.

"It's okay Margaret, I'm here. Shhhh." Hawkeye said softly, his arms around her bruised shoulders and his cheek pushed against the side of her head.

"Hawk, I'm scared, I haven't been this scared since Korea." Tears began streaming out of her beautiful blue eyes.

'_It's a shame,"_ thought Hawk, _'He had to go an vandalize her body, now he has to come and turn those beautiful blues into puffy red blotches.' _

"Honey, I'm going to protect you. You are coming to Crabapple Cove with me, we'll leave in the morning."

"Hawkeye I can't. I have work, and what if he comes back and tries to take my things."

"Margaret, take what is dear to your heart and bring it with you, along with all of your clothes and any important papers. The material things can be replaced, you can't."

She sat there for a moment, contemplating the offer that was just handed to her. When she realized she was still in the bath towel, she stood up and headed for the closet. Just as she was about to open the closet door, there was another hard, sharp bang on the door, and she jumped back onto the bed and held onto Hawkeye. There was no way she was getting up, and no way was she letting go of her 'protector.' She sank her head into the crevice between his shoulder and neck and began sobbing again.

He moved slightly to the side and touched the underneath of her chin with his index finger. Lifting her head up slightly, he stared straight into her eyes.

"I am going to protect you Margaret. I'm not going to let him hurt you," he whispered.

She could not muster a 'Thank You.' A strange but familiar feeling swept over her; one she hadn't felt in a long time. Although she had only been reunited with Hawkeye a mere few hours, it felt like she had never parted from him. The feelings she had hidden from him were flowing back into her like Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario. She moved in closer to him, hoping she wouldn't turn him away. She slowly brought her lips up to his.

What they each felt now was fire. Fire in each others touch, in each others eyes, and in their kiss. Margaret slowly laid herself down on the bed, with Hawkeye now leaning over her. Fire, passion and longing was in his eyes, but now they were starting to fill with something else. This something else was worry. Margaret could feel it pouring off of him.

"There is no more banging."

"What?" she asked, still slightly confused as to why that would worry him.

"Margaret the banging stopped. That could only mean one of two things. Either he has given up and therefore I can take you back to a safe haven I like to call Crabapple Cove, Maine, or…"

"Or he's getting prepared, scouting his resources, waiting for us to screw up."

"Exactly."

"What should we do?" Margaret asked, herself becoming frightened.

Hawkeye couldn't answer, there was what sounded like a crash of a window, and it came from the lower floor.

MWUAHAHAHA!! I thought I might leave you with a little suspense here. Or maybe you have me all figured out…. But I doubt it…. All I can say is look out for a BIG surprise. Hope you Enjoyed it! Read and Review PLZ! Toodles!


	3. The Identity of Dr WHO?

**Author's Note:** I do not own MASH. Although a really wish I did. The story and ideas for the story however, are my own. Feel free to recreate the ideas, just don't recreate my work.

It is a short chapter. I'm busy with exams so there may not be updating until after christmas. Thanx for understanding. Enjoy!

**  
**

**Chapter Three**

Margaret looked up at Hawkeye. An intense look of fear was glazed over her beautiful eyes. Hawkeye knew she wanted out. She didn't need to be suffering like this. He stood up and quickly headed towards the door.

"HAWK!" Margaret yelled fiercely."HAWKEYE! HAWKEYE STAY WITH ME!!!"

Hawkeye ignored her cries as he walked towards the stairs. Margaret's persistent pleas caused him to stop at the top of the stairs. "Margaret he's in the house! We're cornered in this room! You need to get yourself safe while I go deal with this jerk!"

Margaret was in hysterics now. There was an ocean of tears welled up in her eyes now. She needed to tell him. She didn't tell him at first, she was scared to. There was a reason this specific man was "too good to be true." She had met him before, and so had Hawkeye. He noticed the look of distress on her face and moved closer to her.

"Hawkeye," she said almost in a whisper, "You're going to be shocked when you see him."

"What do you mean? How could I be shocked?" He asked, confused by her comment.

"Just trust me okay. Think logically about the situation."

Hawkeye turned around and began walking down the stairs, still thinking about Margaret's words. _Shocked._ What exactly was supposed to shock him? How fierce could this guy be? Hawkeye was sure he could take this guy. In his spare time he would run, hike, jog, do some type of physical activity, it helped him clear his head. What he was about to see would plague his mind possibly for the rest of his life.

He entered the kitchen and saw a man with his back towards him, pulling a small shard of glass from his calf. He slowly bent down and grabbed a large ceramic vase from the counter he was standing beside. This man obviously hadn't heard him coming down the stairs. Hawkeye crept closer to the man and slammed the case atop his head, rendering him unconscious. He fell to the right and slightly forward gathering other shards of glass with his forearm.

Margaret heard something break. '_Please God, let Hawkeye be okay,'_ she thought. I don't need my saviour getting killed. Many thoughts rushed into her head. Thoughts of torture, beating and abuse, much like the types she had endured lately. Now her thoughts extended to horrors such as rape and possibly murder. All this could happen to her because 'HE' fucked up.

"Margaret!" she heard Hawkeye call up to her, "Margaret!"

She slowly crept out of her bedroom, her face red and puffy from crying. He was safe and she was glad. There was still hope for her, for her to have a life.

"Yes Hawk."

"Get me something to tie this guy up with, STAT!" He was panting, not because of physical exertion, but from adrenaline. He was a man who hated violence and now he had just smashed a vase over a guys head. _'This guy deserves it,'_ he rationalized. '_He was abusing a woman because he wanted to romp around with other women, and ended up getting caught.'_

Margaret rummaged through her closet, trying to find something to restrain the man. Quickly she found a small box containing old scarves. She grabbed six and began making her way towards the kitchen. She knew that Hawkeye had not seen this man's face yet. He would have been asking questions instead of asking for restraints. He was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, holding his hands out for whatever she had managed to find to restrain this man.

"Where is the best place to tie someone up in this place?" Hawkeye asked her, she looked puzzled for a moment. "Besides your bedroom," a smirk appeared on his face.

She was glad that he had begun joking once more. She liked that. A smile appeared on her face as well. "The best place would be in the mudroom on the basin, or in the furnace room on one of the pipes," she answered him.

"All righty then, let's move this chump. I think the furnace room would be the best option the pipes will be harder to break then the legs on a basin," He said beginning to walk towards the unconscious 'chump.'

As he lifted the man up slightly so he could drag him to the basement his head fell backwards. Who he saw would change his life forever. Never in his life would he think this man to do something so evil. He was always a good man, he would never hurt anyone; but he did it to Margaret. He dropped the man back on the floor and looked at Margaret, a look of extreme confusion painted across his face. She moved towards him, slowly resting her hand on his upper arm.

"I told you that you would be shocked."

"You could say that again," he said, looking from the man to Margaret and back again. He took another step closer to him and knelt down beside him. The man's face was sunken in and covered with sores, he was pale and the scent of alcohol was apparent not only on his breath, but on his clothing.

"Trapper, buddy, what happened to you?"

* * *

Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know! Constructive criticism always welcome along with suggestions and ideas of what you think is coming next. I love feedback! Please Read and Review! Flames will be used to roast 'weenies.' 


	4. The Story behind Mr Hyde

Sorry its been a while. Exams were brutal. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. I know a few of you weren't pleased with the turnout from the last chapter. I promise that it's getting better.

ENJOY!

BR 

**Chapter Four – "The Story behind Mr. Hyde"**

Hawkeye looked at his former best friend. Still confused, he attempted asking Margaret questions.

"How come you didn't tell me it was Trapper?" he asked, sounding hurt.

"Hawkeye, I couldn't tell you. I know that you two were really close in Korea, but he changed. He's different. He's not 'Trapper John' McIntyre anymore. It's almost like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with him. During the day, while he's working, he's Dr. Jekyll, one of the nicest, most caring people you could ever meet. Then as soon as that clock strikes 5:00pm, and his workday is done, he transformed into a monster by compliments of the brown bottle and Mr. Smirnoff."

"Margaret, I had no idea," he sighed. Now he knew what she had meant by _'you're gonna be shocked.'_

"I know it's hard for you to find out this way. I didn't want to find out the way I did either."

"What made him turn into 'Mr. Hyde'?"

"Well, when he came home from Korea, he got promoted to a new position at the hospital in Boston. With a new position comes a new secretary. Of course he got caught cheating on Louise. She divorced him and took the girls. That's when he transferred to D.C. When I came here last year, he said he had changed because of that. He was right, initially anyway, until Louise got re-married."

Hawkeye looked at Margaret, intrigued by what had triggered Trappers' meltdown. He felt sorry for his friend, but he felt more sorry for Margaret. To have her openly scared, it must have been something pretty bad.

"When did Louise re-marry?" he asked, trying to understand the situation.

"About three months ago, probably closer to three and a half now. Anyhow, he started by having a couple drinks after work about a month before her wedding. It didn't seem like a big deal considering you two drank your fair share of that rat poison you called gin after a long day in the O.R.

"But after a couple of weeks, his drinking began to get heavier, that's when he started yelling a lot. It was shortly after that when he started going out to the bars to drink instead. There were nights when he didn't come home at all. It was in between the increase in his drinking when he began to get more verbally angry. He never got physically abusive until I caught him cheating on me with a co-workers sister, and I kicked him out of my house. All I know now is that he was staying with one of his cousins."

"Wow. That's terrible Margaret. I can't believe that you put up with that. I guess it all happened too soon to process."

"There's other factors in this though Hawkeye. Things I'm ashamed to mention," she turned her back to him. Tears were gathering in her eyes again, she wanted to try and be strong now, however hard that may be.

Hawkeye looked at her with his head cocked slightly to the side anf a confused look on his face for the third time that morning. "Margaret, what are you talking about? What do you mean other factors? How messed up had Trapper got?"

"It's not exactly Trapper. There's…. well…" Margaret began sobbing once more. She didn't want the other factor in his meltdown to get out. Hawkeye looked at her, still dumfounded.

"Margaret, tell me. Honey it's okay, you can tell me, I'm here to help you." She looked at him puffy-eyed and grateful that he was there to help her. She couldn't help but continue into hysterics. He wasn't going to judge her, she knew that. Especially with what she was about to tell him. What had happened had involved her, yes; but the action itself was entirely Trappers. At this point she felt like she couldn't keep anything from Hawkeye. She wanted to divulge everything she had ever kept secret from him; everything.

His presence at her home was not expected, and he realized that. He didn't expect her to be accommodating, especially with her current situation. He still cared for her deeply and didn't want to see her go through this again. He was completely ad utterly shocked when he found out it was Trapper and in reflection her was both furious and jealous. Furious because of the path his friend had chosen; a path of not only the abuse and torture of his own self, but also that of Margaret's. However, he was jealous that Trapper had caught Margaret.

Hawkeye had wanted her, and at one point could have called her his own. Naturally, she was required to stay and finish the tear down of some of the units. As much as he had wanted her to leave the 8063rd with him, she had stayed and swore she'd keep in touch. He wondered why she hadn't contacted him and figured he would wait until she was safer and emotionally stable to ask her. He realized that it didn't matter about the circumstances right now. All that mattered now was that she was safe, and that she was going back to Crabapple Cove with him.

"You know what honey, you can tell me when you are ready," he said, looking at her once more. The feelings he had for her upon leaving Korea, bubbling up once more, "There's no sense in getting you all emotional when we have to get Trapper some help and get you back to Maine with me."

Her reply was only sobs. He knew she was grateful. She didn't have to tell him. She wanted to get out of that place as soon as possible. Her way out was with Hawkeye.

They stood there for a moment longer in silence, both looking at the man laying on the floor in front of them. It was then when Hawkeye realized that although he did not want to tie his friend up, it was something he had to do.

"Margaret, grab his legs for me. We have to tie him now before I change my mind."

"Okay. Whatever you say," she said, obliging to his command.

They moved him slowly down into the basement, being careful not to hurt him. Hawkeye found a rather large pipe coming from the water heater and decided that would be the best place. Both himself and Margaret returned to the main floor quickly, as neither of them wanted to see the condition of their friend.

Margaret walked towards the couch, sat and covered herself with a blanket. Hawkeye joined her shortly after. Seeing that she was at a war with herself in her mind he tried consoling her.

"Margaret. I know it wasn't exactly the best option, but it's all we have until we can check him into a rehabilitation center in the morning."

"Hawkeye. I need to tell you something. Something very important." Her voice was stable now, and somewhat resembled her Major Margaret Houlihan tone from Korea. What was different was that it sounded heavy. Heavy like she was carrying a burden. He braced himself for what he was about to hear.

"Okay, Margaret. I'm listening."

"Well, I was telling you how there were other factors involved."

"Yes," he said looking at her intently.

"Something arose, and he didn't have much choice over it, and he didn't seem to like it too much," she sighed. She inhaled deeply, like she was gaining courage to drop the verbal bomb. "He didn't want it to continue any further." She looked towards the floor. "Hawk, I couldn't do what he had asked of me. It's against my morals. But he took care of that himself."

"Margaret, I don't understand," Hawkeye said, looking at her confused as to exactly what she was talking about.

"Hawkeye. I was pregnant."

BR 

OOOHHH! Cliffhanger. Not really. I apologize if it isn't exactly up to par, but i promise it is getting better. Please R&R. Thanx.


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